"Weaving Form and Surface" at the Cohen Center

“Weaving Form and Surface”, an exhibition of work by ceramic professor Andrea Gill, opened Wednesday October 19th at the Cohen Center on Main Street. The 4 pm reception was well-attended by faculty and students who were excited to see a glimpse of Gill’s work “behind-the-scenes”. Not only did the artist chose to exhibit a spread of artifacts used in her creative process (from glaze tests to musings), but the pieces displayed feature glazes and bodies not used before by her. Most are abstracted vessels that showcase bright and opaque to earthy and transparent colors. Her patterning in some instances hides itself in the shadows of recessed places or stand bright and obstinate on eye level platforms. A great opportunity to see a wider example of Andrea Gill’s work or to become familiar with the philosophy in practice of a mentor and respected Alfred icon, a visit to the Cohen Center is in your future. Exhibition runs until Friday December 2nd.

To make an appointment to view “Weaving Form and Surface” please contact Kevin Jacobs at jacobsj@alfred.edu.

-Olivia Hartwig




To accompany this post we've included Andrea's artists statement from the faculty website. Enjoy!



My personal vision as an artist has focused on a format that is admittedly ancient: I am passionate about pottery form as a site for personal expression. I have no excuse for this arcane practice. I have little interest in the functional debate, although I recently allowed a florist to fill a vase with an outrageous arrangement. I choose to make vases and bowls because those forms allow the most open interpretation of shape without losing the iconic identity of the object. The scale of the vases, from two to six feet, gives me room to explore color, shape and pattern. The bowls provide a more intimate space where I have been exploring narrative ideas, recently involving mythology.

My devotion to surface patterning has also proven to be an addiction that satisfies my love of stylized image and my firmly positive response to the word DECORATIVE. In the motifs of my overlaid figure/ground surfaces, I suspect I am often exploring my subconscious. The sources for the motifs range from my garden to doodles to texts of historical ornament, such as Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament.

Ceramics is the ideal media to combine surface color and three-dimensional form. There is the affirmation of historic precedence of the painted pot, and the possibilities of current clay and glaze technology to support my vision.